La parroquia de «Sant Francesc» de Ciutadella tiene sus orígenes en el convento de frailes menores o franciscanos fundado por Alfonso III de Aragón justo después de la conquista de Menorca. De hecho, el 1 de marzo de 1287, cuando el monarca todavía estaba en la isla, concedió a los guardianes de los franciscanos o frailes menores de Barcelona y del ayuntamiento de Mallorca algunos heredados en Ciutadella con la condición de que construyeran un convento y de que algunos frailes residieran allí. Estas herencias consistían en el jardín que había sido de los Rais Abu Umar y algunas casas. La llegada de los primeros frailes debe haber sido casi inmediata. En 1290 el guardián del convento fue Fray Berenguer de Lledó. No sabemos nada de este primer convento franciscano, aunque nos ha dejado una lápida (actualmente en el Museo Diocesano) de Guillem Pere de Vilafreser, teniente del tesorero real, que había sido enterrado en San Francisco en julio de 1294.   Desde el principio el convento de Sant Francesc tuvo importancia en la vida religiosa y social de Ciutadella. Así, en 1301 se celebró una importante sesión de la Universidad de Menorca con los abogados de Jaume II de Mallorca, en la que se acordaron los términos de la reestructuración del régimen inmobiliario. Durante el siglo XIV, en Nochebuena, las posiciones de la universidad se renovaron. En cuanto a la adscripción del convento de Ciutadella dentro de la orden franciscana, pasó de la rama del claustrales a los observers. The common trunk of the order of the younger brothers, founded by the Pobrissó of Assisi in 1209, who had Sister Poverty as a reference, had divided into several branches. The convent of Ciutadella belonged to the cloistered group until 1504, when the reform began to move to that of the observers, that is, they followed the government of Saint Francis more closely, especially with respect to the detachment of material goods, instead of the more lax conventual ones. During the 17th century the convent was built, while some renovations were carried out and additions were made to the church, such as the choir (1613), the side portal that faces the «Puríssima» street and the largest one that was opened in the «Plaça des Born» (1681-84). Of these baroque portals, the work of master Pere Amorós, only the first remains, since the main portal was replaced at the beginning of the 19th century by the neoclassical one that can be seen today. In this same reform it was decided to extend the church, so the original apse disappeared, replaced by the transept covered with a dome and a new apse (1808). Later (1831), the ambulatory was built behind the altar. The reform of the first years of the 19th century broke the harmony of the temple nave. The result was a disproportionate church, too long in relation to its width. During the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, the Convent of Sant Francesc continued to play an important social and cultural function (grammar and theology school, pharmacy, etc.) and was the preferred place for citizens when choosing burial, both inside the temple and in the cloister. In 1835, however, applying the decree of ecclesiastical confiscation, the convent was extinguished and its assets became property of the State. The church remained open to worship and in 1877 it was erected as a parish, while the convent had different uses until the house was built Colonial style cabrisses, later replaced by the post office building. The garden, on the other hand, was developed after 1865.